APPALACHIA TRIP DAY 1

Appalachia Trip Day 1

 

455 miles

 

 

Road Trip!!  Finally, it's time to ride!  Left Joplin at 630am and headed east across southern Missouri on highway 60.  Was warm enough to start without a jacket--the sky was blue, the air fresh, and the sun bright!  Passed a horse and buggy in Amish country, and enjoyed smelling the fresh cut hay.  Later in the morning, the landscape changed to oak and pine trees, and saw mills. I love the smell of saw mills!  It was a peacefull and relaxing morning ride.  Applied first sun screen at 1030.

 



By noon, I had gone 300 miles and was traversing the flat land before the rivers.  Being able to see for miles in all directions is fun sometimes, too.  Crossed the Mississippi River, drove 500 yards in Illinois, then crossed the Ohio River into Kentucky.  South through Kentucky to Tennessee.  Got stopped once for road construction--its pretty hot sitting on a blacktop highway out in the sun, so I was glad I had a cooler on board with some ice water.

 

My stopping point for today is Kentucky Lake.  I'm actually in Tennessee near the town of Paris.

I've got a nice little cabin to hang out in, and, as luck would have it, the St Louis Cardinals game is on TV.  So all I need is a shower and I'm all set.

Lots of miles to cover tomorrow, so will definitely need an early start, but early means cooler temps and hopefully getting to Maggie Valley before thunderstorms pop up, so I'm all about early.